The Pulpit Commentary — Revelation — Section 89

had said, "You are to be subject to a trying, a sifting, a testing process. It .must be ah.own, to yourselves and to those who look on, what there is in you of empty, hollow; oowardly profession. I cannot excuse you from this necessity." 4. The persecuUon. tlNJi lkort. "Ten days." It ia idle, puerile, to inquire what exact period of time is i11volved in these words. I take the idea to mean brevity. It is a short period. All the afflictions of the good are brief. "Our light affiiction," etc. The storm may be sharp, but it will be short. Great trials seldom last long. The sufferings of the good here are· not penal, but disciplinary; not judicial. but paternal. " What son is he that the father chasteneth not?" etc. IV. DUTY IN TBUL, .How are the trials to be endured? 1. With courage. Servile fear is at once an unvirtuous and pernicious element in the mind; it is inimical to tbil hMlthy growth of our faculties, and to the maturing of our moral manhood. Hence Christ everywhere proscribes it. He enjoins courage: '' Fear not," be intrepid, be brave, endure with magnanimity, struggle with invincibility. "None of these things move me," said Paul; and: 2. He en;"oins faithfulmss. "Be faithful" Do not let the fiercest storms came •you to swerve one iota from rectitude. " Quit you lik~ men; " "Be strong in the Lord.''· Be faithful to your God and your conscience. 8. He enjoins per-,,ance. "Unto death." If you can be faithful up to death you will be faithful afterwards, for your obligations will remain, your temptations will be gone, 4. He m,;joini reflectiveness. "He that bath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the -Ohlirches." Let:the mind ever rest in deep and devout thought on the Divine which is iipeaking everywhere on all things. V. VICTORY IN DEATH. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death." •· The "second death" is the death of the soul, the death of that which makes all life valuable. From such a death the truly loyal and faithful shall be delivered, says Archbishop Trench, 'will afford quite sufficient time for his promotion to the highest seat of honour in the Church.' Bnt positive testimony is borne t.o this fe.ot by Irenmus, who affirms that he had in his youth often talked with Polycarp, who had been consecrated Bishop .of the Church at Smyrna by St. John. ; and like iestimony is given by Tertullia.n. 'If, then, we are to regard Polycarp as the Angel of the Church of Smyrna, there will be con- siderable Iiglit thrown upon the particular references mentioned in the meesage to that 'Church,ilhpeoially those relating to them' who say they are Jews, but are not;' a.nd the exhor• tation and promise at the end of the epistle will have their apposite force and application. "T&a.i Abyu 6 ,rp-0wros ical 6 laxii.,-os, t» i"ftVETo nicpl,r, iccil 1!(1J<T•v-' 1'hese things saith the First and the Last, which was dead and lived again.' The Head of the Church here reveals himself as One who had triumphed over death, and by that victory was able to sustain those who were about to undergo cruel torments and meet death in its most terrible fonn. Wild beasts and fire W1're the dread altllrnatives which the heathen persecutors presented before the suft'ering Christians. When the proconsul said to Polyearp, 'I have wild beasts; I will expose you to them unless you repent.• 'Call them,' replied the martyr; 'our minds a.re not to be changed from the better to the worse, but it is a good thing to be changed from :evil to good.' • I will tame your spirit by fire,' ea.id the proconsul,• since. you deBpise the wild beasts.' 'You threaten me with fire,' answered Polycarp, •which bums for a moment and will soon be extinct ; but you a.re ignorant of the future jndgment and of that fue that is reserved for the ungodly.' What could have given martyrs such courage-what but the eonsoious presence of him who walked with the three children in the fiery furnace of Babylon? It is reoorded that the multitude of Jews and Gentiles, who clamoured loudly against Polyoarp, called on the asiaroh, Philip, that he would loose a lion upon him; and .the popular cry of the heathen in times of persecution was • Ohristiano11 ad Leomm J' 'Now, under such circumstances nothing could bear them up but the assurance that they were in the hands of him who is' the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;' who pai3eed through the bitter pangs of death, and is now 11live for evermore. Death in its most appalling forms might be near at hand, the most cruel perseoution that ever W88 invented by the malignity of the servants of the prince of darknl'.lls might be imminent; but whence those fears? 'When thou paasest through the fue thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.' Like the bush at Honib, the Church may burn, but it will JlOt be consumed, for Christ is in the midst of it. They may kill the poor body, but they cannot kill the soul, which, when the earthly pitcher is broken, shall shine like Gideon's •lamps. Like the chariot of fire in which the prophet ascended, ao the flame of persecution. how flemily soever it may bum, will only hear the soul of the martyr to the bosom of hie God" (Andrew Tait, LL.D., F.R.S.E.). CIIJ; rr. 1-29.) THE REVltt,ATION' OF ST. JOHN THE DIVINE. 101